DOME
by Flews
Summary: Characters from different realms of fiction such as anime, video games, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment are taken from their realm and into a huge dome in order to train for the War of the Realms.
1. Chapter 1

A bright flash of white light went off as the man opened his eyes. It took a moment for his vision to clear before he shook his head and woke up. Very slowly, he sat up and swept his purple gaze around the room-the room? Where was he? His brows knit together. He was on a bed adorned with pure white sheets, the quilt as soft as feathers. The room was painted a light lavender. A bookshelf sat in the far left corner. The bed he was sitting on was pushed against the right wall. A desk was opposite of the door, which was beside the bed. This wasn't his room! In fact, he didn't remember anything after...

Well, he remembered he was outside. He was training. And then, all of a sudden, he passed out and woke up here. As he tried to remember what all had went down, the room darkened to a pitch. A large, white, gloved hand appeared before him. Just the hand. It was enormous. The man's eyes widened. "Wh-who are you?" he asked, shakily yet willful. A voice boomed all around him, yet it seemed to sound inside his mind.

"I am Master Hand. Welcome to my home, Kamui Gakupo."

Bewildered, Gakupo blinked rapidly in confusion before responding to the being, "Why have you brought me here, then?"

The entity sighed, if gloves can sigh. He had obviously given this explanation more than once. "You have been brought here from your planet because there is an upcoming war of all the existing worlds. Only the best and most skilled beings from each world can be brought here, where they will train for the final battle."

All of this surreal information made the samurai's head spin. "So I've been brought here to defend my world?" he asked.

"Yes, you and a few others from Planet Earth have been brought here."

He nodded slowly. "I see. If this is something I must do to keep Earth safe..." Gakupo shook his head again. "It's hard to accept and even understand, but I really don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Master Hand didn't have to answer. It disappeared into mist, leaving behind a very confused samurai.

He then looked up, a determined light in his eyes. He had family back home. He couldn't let them down-if what Master Hand said was actually true.

He stood and stretched, deciding to go out and take a look around.


	2. Chapter 2

He stepped out of his bedroom door and walked down the long, white hallway, humming quietly to calm himself down. He turned a corner and was led into a finely furnished area. A beautifully patterned rug led up to a oaken coffee table with an enormous bookshelf behind it. A long, plush blue couch sat on the opposite wall, with a huge television across from it on the wall nearest to him. He whistled, impressed, and suddenly a figure with royal blue hair and a long, white and blue trench coat walked in. It took him a half second to recognize the figure.

"Kaito?" he asked in disbelief.

"Gakupo!" the blue-haired man exclaimed in surprise, and then crossed the room to embrace the samurai.

Shion Kaito was an old friend of his. They sang together back home, and quickly became like brothers.

"How are you?" Kaito asked, tugging breathlessly on his lighter blue muffler.

"A little startled by all of this." Gakupo admitted. "How long have you been here?"

Kaito shrugged. "About a month or so. Surprisingly, it's easy to get used to."

Gakupo recalled how his friend had mysteriously vanished a while ago. Now he understood. "I see. I'm sure it is."

Just as he said that, a woman came into the room and stood behind Kaito. She had long, dark brown hair that was tied back into a muted fashion an quiet, wise eyes. Her elfish features called attention to her ears, which were slightly pointed. She wore a long, purple and cream dress with her hands folded to her lap.

Kaito sensed her presence and glanced behind him, his blue gaze lighting up. "Princess!" he exclaimed happily, turning around to wrap his arms around her affectionately.

The woman gave a quiet chuckle. "Hello, Kaito." she responded. Gakupo tilted his head quizzically to the side, a question in his eyes. Kaito saw the look and hurried to explain.

"Erm, Kamui Gakupo, this is Princess Zelda of Elden; Princess, this is my best friend and coworker, Kamui Gakupo."

The princess gave a little curtsy, and Gakupo returned with a deep bow. "A pleasure to meet you, Princess Zelda." he said.

"The pleasure is mine." she responded.

Kaito grinned at the two. "Well, I promised her that I'd take her out on a date today, so we'll catch you later, Gakupo!" he said, and then took the woman's hand and they went off.

Gakupo shook his head, the corners of his lips turned upwards. How Kaito could manage to convince a woman like that to go out with him, he would never know. His thoughts travelled to a familiar memory-soft pink hair, a light, flowery smell, silk skin, and a laughing voice like bells. The samurai felt a pang of sorrow as he recalled the woman he so loved. He'd left Luka behind when he involuntarily came here, and he missed her dearly. But he couldn't let that bother him now. There was nothing he could do about it. He sighed and continued into the next room. It was a kitchen. There was a round wooden table beside the large glass windows. Sunlight poured in, and he realized how long it'd been since he saw the sky. The puffy white clouds floated across the blue canvas like a sailboat on the everlasting sea. He heaved a sigh and scanned the room, looking for the next door. He passed the metal oven on the side and made his way to the next room. This room led to a long hallway, with many doors on each side. Each door had a name pinned beside it, etched in a metal plate on the wall next to the door. He stopped when he saw the word "Shion" next to a door about halfway down the hallway. He then realized that the engravings on the plates were the last names of the people that inhabited those rooms. He raised his eyebrows. Apparently there were many more people in this huge estate than he'd originally thought.


	3. Chapter 3

He made a mental note of where Kaito's room was and continued on down the hallway until he came into a large opening. This room was much bigger than the others he'd been in. It was about the length of a high school gym. The walls and floors were painted completely white. Straw, plastic, and rubber dummies lined the walls on white metal stands. On the far wall was a huge supply of weapons, ranging from swords to spiked clubs. He touched the katana that was strapped around his back thoughtfully. It'd been a while since he'd trained. It wouldn't hurt to do so now.

He unsheathed the long, wicked blade and stepped over to a dummy, giving it an experimental hack. The katana dug into it like a hot knife through butter, and he pulled it back out, disappointed. And then a strange thing happened. The material that the dummy was made out of stitched itself together until it was perfectly in line. It was like he hadn't even touched it. The man then had an idea, and he moved a few dummies around until they were in a perfect circle around him. He gave a slow inhale and exhale before spinning around in a complete circle, slashing each dummy across the stomach all in one swipe. He gave a satisfied smirk as he watched them grow back together again. He unstrapped the purple eggplant-shaped water bottle on his hip and took a drink, feeling the cool, refreshing liquid run down his throat. He strapped it back, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and prepared to make another attack; suddenly, black and silver daggers zipped by his head, mere centimeters from his face. He turned to the direction in which they were thrown from, surprise written all over his face.

A young man about two or three years younger than him stood there with a hand resting on his hip. His red eyes glared at Gakupo with an unclear threat. Blonde and black streaked his otherwise red hair, his bangs hanging over into his face.

"Wh-what was that for?" Gakupo asked in utter confusion. "Who are you?"

The man took a step forward. "Zagi." he replied, his eyes narrowed. "I was bored. You seemed fun to mess with."

A frown crossed the samurai's face. "I'm busy at the moment, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't throw daggers at me, please." he said, and turned his attention back to the dummies. Another blade flew past his face, nicking the tip of his nose. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, turning his purple gaze to the other. "Didn't you hear me?"

Zagi smirked. "Yeah. And?" He crossed over to retrieve his daggers that had embedded themselves into the dummy behind Gakupo. It healed as he pulled them out.

Gakupo grit his teeth, trying to remain calm. "And I would expect you to follow my wishes and leave me alone. I'd like to practice without interruption, if you don't mind."

"I didn't know a girl could use a sword." Zagi replied, raising an eyebrow.

Gakupo gave an impatient sigh. "I'm a man. You can tell by my voice." The samurai had a rich, deep tone. "And it's a katana."

"Katana, sword, whatever; they still cut people to bits." the man responded with a careless shrug. "Bet you bring in all the ladies with that, eh?" he added, snickering sarcastically. Gakupo didn't respond, his thoughts traveling to Luka again. "Hey. You. Over here." Zagi said, snapping his fingers to get him out of his trance. Gakupo blinked and came back into focus.

"What's your name, anyway? I told you mine."

"Gakupo."

Zagi blinked, and then burst into laughter. "/Gakpoop/?" he repeated, holding his stomach.

Gakupo's face turned warm. "Gakupo." he enunciated, his temper rising.

Zagi could sense that he was getting angry, and he stopped laughing, but a smirk remained on his face. He stretched and ran his finger over the blade of his dagger. "What a stupid name. Stupid name for a stupid guy. Doesn't even know how to block a dagger."

Gakupo turned to face the other, his eyes narrowed. "Call me what you'd like." he said through clenched teeth. "But the only stupid thing in here is that hair of yours. Really, it looked like it had a stroke. What a terrible dye job."

Zagi twitched. "It's not a dye job! It's naturally like this."

Gakupo snorted. "Yeah, nice try. You can see your roots." He pointed to the red part of the man's hair, his grin widening at the black-showing roots.

Zagi covered his hair with his hands. "Oh, whatever! If someone should be complaining about hair, it's you! Have you /ever/cut that unkempt mane? And it's purple! What a fruity color!"

Gakupo ran his hands through his long ponytail. "It is not unkempt. I take very good care of my hair."

Zagi chortled. "A real man doesn't care about his appearance."

"You obviously live by those terms."

"Shut up! I'll murder you in your sleep!"

"And how will you manage to do that?"

"I can do lots of things! I am an assassin!"

Now Gakupo raised an eyebrow. "An assassin, eh? So you kill people for a living?"

Zagi pressed his lips together, realizing that he'd given away too much. He made an attempt to change the subject. "What are you, anyway? Some sort of geisha? I'm guessing that's it, by your attire."

Gakupo glanced down to his purple-and-white kimono and then looked bak at the other. "Try again. I'm a samurai."

Zagi rolled his eyes. "Ohh, how threatening! I'm terrified!"

"More like stupid. I thought the katana was a dead giveaway." he answered.

"You are the girliest guy I know, man. What a nut. I dislike you already."

"You don't even know me."

"I know you well enough to dislike you!"

Gakupo sighed again. He'd had enough of this childish banter. He pushed past the man and continued toward the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going!?" Zagi called after him.

"Away from here." Gakupo answered. He was out of the room just as a blade dug into the wooden frame of the door.


	4. Chapter 4

When he went back through the kitchen, he noticed how time had flew. The night sky was full of twinkling stars, and he sat down at the table and watched them. He heard his belly complain and remembered that he hasn't eaten in a few days. He stood and went over to the refrigerator. "I assume we help ourselves." he mumbled, reaching into it and taking out a few supplies. Butter, eggplant, salt. After rummaging around in other cabinets, he managed to find a frying pan with a lid. He crossed over to the stove, and about a half hour later, he was sitting at the table again with sautéed eggplant in front of him. He ate as he thought, his mind racing with the events of the day. What a strange day it had been! He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing here, but there was no going back now, so he'd have to live with it. At least he had Kaito here to help him out and keep him company, but it'd be less than it used to because of his new lady. The training room and the self-healing dummies was a plus, because it'd be more more of a challenge to attack. He felt saddened as he thought of the people he'd left behind. Surely he'd see them again, right? It wasn't like he'd be here forever.

He stood and put the now-empty plate into the sink. And what would he do about that obnoxious assassin? He didn't fancy running into him again. Gakupo wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but the other man had taken a disliking to him, and he wasn't used to having enemies. "I'll just have to cope." he sighed, making his way to his room. He noticed the silver plate beside the door labeled "Kamui". This was his home now.

He dressed into his slumber clothing, which consisted of a white T-shirt and black cotton shorts. His long purple hair fell down his shoulders as he undid his ponytail, and he climbed into the soft bedding. He played the memory of Luka over and over in his head as he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Gakupo heaved a sigh as his consciousness returned to him. He opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the darkness. Something was strange-his body told him it was morning, but there was no light in his room. He frowned. There were no windows. He felt more imprisoned now than he'd ever been as he turned this over in his mind. He stood, shaking off the dizziness, and went over to his closet. A scowl flickered across his face as he recalled his conversation with that assassin yesterday, and he skimmed past his regular kimono to grab a different outfit. He shrugged on the purple T-shirt and dark jeans and smoothed his hair back into its usual ponytail. He wondered what there was for breakfast as he made his way to the hallway. Perhaps he'd even have time for some early morning training. He grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and travelled to the training room, bumping into a sleepy Kaito as he did so.

"Eh? Whozzat?" The blue-haired man rubbed his eyes and got a clear look. "Oh, Gakupo. G'mornin'."

Gakupo chuckled. "Good morning. Tired, are we? You've never been a morning person, Kaito."

Kaito nodded slowly. "Nope. I'm tired. The only reason I got out of bed is because I'm famished. I'll see you later." He gave a wave and went off into the kitchen.

Gakupo walked into the training room, stopping short when he saw another person swishing at a dummy. He quietly stood against the wall and watched the assassin from yesterday train. Although he didn't like the guy, he had to admit that he was a pretty good fighter-especially with those blades of his. The way he sliced and hacked was so graceful, it almost looked as if he were dancing. After a particularly good hit, he stopped breathlessly and became aware of another presence in the room. He turned and saw Gakupo standing there, and a smirk formed on his lips.

"Here again, Gakpoop? You must've /really/ missed me." he jested.

"Oh, absolutely; I missed you terribly." Gakupo replied sarcastically as he walked over to stand a few feet away from the other.

"Hah! I knew you would, since I'm obviously so attractive and handsome. I bet your girlfriend is jealous, eh?"

Gakupo rolled his eyes. "I don't-" he broke off as he thought of Luka again and, after he swallowed, continued, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Zagi lifted an eyebrow. "Is that so? I'm not surprised, judging by the way /you/ look."

Gakupo snorted. "I'm not that bad looking. As a matter of fact, I have tons of girls pining after me."

The assassin folded his arms across his chest. "I highly doubt that. I mean, you're a pretty boring guy."

Gakupo stabbed his katana into a nearby dummy. "That might be true. I don't have much of a personality."

Zagi faltered. "Hey, you're not supposed to /agree/ with me!"

"Is this a game to you? How awfully childish."

"I am /not/ childish!"

"You are too, and you're more girly than you say I am."

"Am not!"

"Oh, yeah?"

Gakupo stepped over to where he was mere inches away from the other. Zagi's head measured to about Gakupo's shoulders.

The assassin huffed. "Just because you're freakishly tall doesn't mean that I'm any less of a man than you."

Gakupo raised an eyebrow. "Does it not? You've also got very feminine facial features. And long eyelashes." He flicked the eyelashes that framed the guy's left eye for further proof, and Zagi flinched back with a scowl.

"Don't touch me, creep. You tryna cop a feel or something?"

"I only touched your eyelashes."

"That's creepy!"

"Your /eyelashes/?"

"Yeah!"

Gakupo chuckled. "You really are like a girl."

"Oh, yeah? I bet your girlfriend is as masculine as you are feminine!" Zagi retorted.

"I told you, I don't have a girlfriend."

"I saw that look on your face when I asked the first time. There is someone, isn't there?"

Gakupo frowned, his gaze falling to his sneakers. "It's none of your business."

"C'mon, you coward. Or are you ashamed of her?"

Gakupo's eyes flashed and he lifted them to meet Zagi's. "I am not ashamed of Luka."

Zagi smirked, leaning against a dummy. "Luka?"

The samurai cursed under his breath. "Yeah. Her name is Luka. She...he's not my girlfriend, I just..."

"You're in love with her, but she doesn't feel the same way?" Zagi finished.

Gakupo looked back at him, slightly surprised. "How'd you guess?"

"You look depressed or somethin' when you talk about her."

Gakupo didn't answer, he simply sighed and closed his eyes.

"Surely there was something she liked about you." Zagi added.

A smile found its way to his lips. "Yeah, she always said I was a good kisser." he replied.

Zagi snorted, his cockiness returning. "I bet I'm a better kisser than you."

"/You've/ kissed someone before?"

"Course I have! I've kissed plenty of people!"

A teasing tone entered the samurai's voice. "Is that so? Well then, prove it. Kiss me."

Zagi lost his grip on the dummy and fell over. He stood up and looked at Gakupo with wide eyes. "Sorry, what?"

"You think you're so good? I'll be the judge of that. Kiss me." Gakupo said.

Zagi stood there for a moment. He blinked and said, "I must not be hearing you right. You want /me/ to kiss /you/?"

Gakupo nodded. "If you think you're better than I am."

Zagi's mouth opened and closed as he searched for words, and it took him a moment to find his tongue. "F-fine, I will." He took a step closer to Gakupo, furrowing his brows.

"Uh-" He stood on tiptoe and grabbed Gakupo's collar, pulling him down and pressing his lips hard against the other's. They remained like that for a few seconds before Zagi released him, spitting and wiping his sleeve across his mouth. "Blah!"

Gakupo brushed his purple bangs out of his eyes, his face thoughtful. "Hm."

"Can't believe I just did that." he muttered, and then said in a louder voice, "Well? Aren't I better?"

Gakupo shrugged. "I'd give you about a six out of ten. Not as good as my Luka, of course."

Zagi scowled. "Oh, yeah? Well, I give you a negative one out of ten, you moron! I'm better than you anyway!" He stormed out of the room, steaming.

Gakupo chuckled, glad that he was able to finally get under his skin. He stood and practiced for about an hour, his thoughts focused on his attacks.


	6. Chapter 6

The samurai bit into his sandwich. It was about two in the afternoon now, and Kaito sat across from him at the kitchen table, happily enjoying his ice cream.

"So, how'd you and that girlfriend of yours meet?" Gakupo asked.

"Well...long story short, she pried a chameleon off my face." he replied.

Gakupo opened his mouth to question it, but just shook his head and decided not to. "Is she good to you?"

Kaito got all dreamy-eyed. "She's the best in my life." he sighed as he thought of Zelda. "I like her so much. Our date went well yesterday."

"That's good."

"Anything interesting happen to you lately?"

"I kissed some guy in the training room."

Kaito dropped his spoon. It clattered to the floor. "You what?"

"It's a long story." Gakupo responded. Kaito hesitated, his eyes swimming with questions , and then let it drop. "I've gotta go anyway, man." he said, checking his watch. "Princess said she'd teach me how to ride her horse."

Gakupo nearly choked on his drink. "Horses? Since when are you into horses?"

Kaito's eyes shone. "I'm not so much into the horse as I am into its rider." He winked and left the room.

Gakupo shook his head and finished his lunch. Strangely, he was beginning to get used to this environment. He stood and made his way into the main room, going over to the bookshelf and scanning the titles. He eventually chose one and went to sit on the couch, pulling his reading glasses from his pocket as he did so. He adorned them and had just began the first page when movement caught his eye.

The assassin walked into the room, stopping short when he noticed that he wasn't alone. "Hey, quit stalking me." he said.

Gakupo sighed. Not this again. "I believe I was here first, and you came in after. Technically, you would be stalking me."

A look of disgust formed on Zagi's face. "Eh, whatever. Who would want to stalk you, anyway?"

Although it was a rhetorical question, the samurai answered it. "Actually, last year we had a bit of a problem with a fan who got a bit too close. I found her trying to sneak into my bedroom window one night when I was reading."

Zagi looked at him. "That's...weird. A fan? What even are you, some samurai superhero or something?"

Gakupo rolled his eyes. "No, I'm a Vocaloid. We're voice synthesizer programs that sing. It's a little difficult to explain."

Zagi sat down in the armchair across from him. "I've got time."

"Well, we are very famous, especially in Japan. There are, I believe, over six hundred of us all combined-Vocaloids, Utauloids, Vipperloids, etc.-but the most popular know is Hatsune Miku. Heard of her?"

Zagi shook his head.

"Ah, well, then...the 'main' Vocaloids are Kaito, Meiko, Miku, Luka, Len, Rin, Gumi, and myself. We're all...manually controlled by our creator. We don't know his name. He goes by 'Master'." Gakupo's lip curled, hinting at his dislike for the being that took him over. "He's like our little version of God."

All the hostility was now gone from Zagi's eyes, replaced by curiosity and wonder. "Does he just control you like a robot? Whenever he feels like it?"

Gakupo nodded. "He hears and sees everything that we do. He knows everything about us, right down to our own thoughts."

Zagi made a face. "That's just creepy. What a sicko."

Gakupo raised an eyebrow, a playful tone seeping into his voice. "What happened to all that hate you had in you yesterday? Now it seems as if you're feeling sympathetic."

Zagi blinked, his usual snarkiness returning. "Yeah, well, all I said was that it was creepy that some guy watches whatever you do. I never said anything about you in particular, tch."

"You were implying it with your tone and body language."

"I was not!"

"You were too."

Zagi grit his teeth and attempted to change the subject. "What're you reading, anyway, stupid?"

Gakupo looked down at his book. "Jane Eyre."

Zagi snorted. "Isn't that like some old timely romance classic?"

Gakupo nodded. "I adore it. Romance novels are my favorite kind of reading material."

"Really? Jeez, you're such a girl."

"Let's not get into this again."

The assassin stood and stretched with a wide yawn. "Well, if I said that it was nice talking to you, I'd be lying. Thanks for an incredibly boring time."

Gakupo glanced up as he made his way to the door. "Hey, Zagi." he said as the other was about to leave the room.

Zagi turned his head. "What?"

A hint of a smirk crossed the samurai's face. "You're pretty cute when you're not scowling at everything."

Zagi's eyes widened, and for a split second, a light pink creeped onto his cheeks. He rolled his eyes with a huff and a "Whatever." as he walked out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

By the time that evening fell, Gakupo had finished his novel and placed it back onto the shelf. He rubbed his tired eyes and covered a yawn, more than ready to get into his nice, cozy bed and fall asleep. He made his way into the hallway and passed two people having a rather heated argument. The woman with pink hair and a dangerous-looking gun on her person gave the scantily dressed man with long white hair what-for about his sassy remarks. Gakupo forced down his quiet laughter as he passed them and went into his room, where he quickly got ready for bed. The clock on the table told him it was around nine. He frowned. Normally he didn't go to sleep until at least twelve, but he was unusually tired. He laid between the soft sheets and took his hair down, waiting to sink into unconsciousness. Suddenly, a muffled noise shook the house. Gakupo strained his ears to listen for the sounds past his wall. The same noise boomed again, and he recognized it as thunder. If he stilled his breathing and made no sound, he could barely hear the fall of rain and the swoosh of wind beyond the concrete barrier that separated him from the outside. If they were inside a dome, how could the rain get through? He thought about it for a moment before pushing it to the side as he wrote it off as some sort of magic. He wouldn't be surprised if it were-he'd had a few magical encounters before. As he listened, he heard yet another sound, except this one was more more loud and close by. Someone was knocking on his door. He stood and crossed the room, wondering who would be visiting him at this hour. He opened the door to find Zagi standing there with his arms crossed.

"Care to buy an encyclopedia?" the assassin said, and then pushed past Gakupo and went into his room. Gakupo looked at him in bewilderment as he made himself comfortable. "I-you-wh-what are you doing here? How did you know where my room was?" he asked.

Zagi reclined against the wall, running his fingertips along the bedsheets. "How come your bedding is so much more luxurious than mine? This is like five thousand thread count or something."

"Answer me." Gakupo ordered.

"Alright, fine, fine, don't get your panties in a wad. I knew this was your room because of the name plate, stupid. As for my reason of coming here, I thought you'd be terrified of the storm, being all alone and whatnot."

The samurai snorted. "I love storms, and I'm used to being alone. Why would I be scared?"

Zagi shrugged, now beginning to mess with his pillow. "Dunno. Just a guess."

"Why would you care, anyway?"

"Hey, hey, I'm a nice guy. What can I say?" He pulled a long, purple hair off the pillowcase and made a face as he held it between his fingertips; he put it out over the bedside and released it, where he watched it float to the ground.

"Yeah, okay, sure." Gakupo closed the door and went to sit on the other side of the bed. "You look different without all that strappy getup on."

Zagi looked down at his white T-shirt and baggy athletic shorts with a frown. "So? Look at you! You're a lot less girly without that dress on!"

"Kimono."

"Whatever. I-"

Another clap of thunder sounded, this one more violent than before. Zagi's knuckles turned white as he gripped the pillow, his mouth snapping shut and nearly cutting off his tongue. Gakupo watched him with amusement lighting his eyes.

"Are you sure you didn't come here because /you/ were scared?" he asked.

Zagi blinked and, after realizing how tensed he was, relaxed and slid into a false bravado. "Don't be stupid, Gakpoop. I'm not scared of anything, much less some ridiculous st-" Another clap of thunder cut him off.

Gakupo crawled closer toward him to where their shoulders touched as he sat back down. "You really are afraid, aren't you?" he asked quietly.

Zagi looked at him with loathing and was about to shoot off a snippy comment, but then he lowered his gaze to the pillow on his lap and gave a tiny fraction of a nod.

The samurai smiled, all the teasing from his gaze and voice gone. He put an arm around the other, pulling him closer. "I never suspected that such a mean young man would ever be afraid of something as ridiculous as a thunderstorm." he commented.

"Shut up." Zagi growled, his face burning. "It's humiliating enough already."

"Personally, I find it cute."

"That makes it worse!"

Gakupo gave a quiet chuckle and shifted to where Zagi's head was in his lap.

"Surely you have a stupid fear." Zagi attempted as he fiddled with a strand of Gakupo's hair.

"Loneliness." the samurai responded after a minute of thought.

"And I thought my fear was stupid."

"I'm serious!"

Zagi snickered and released his hair. "I'm kidding. It's a relevant fear. But everyone's afraid of loneliness at some point, eh?"

Gakupo didn't answer. He just gazed down at the guy as he ran his fingers through his multicolored hair, lost in thought.

Zagi reached up and snapped his fingers in his face. "Yoo-hoo. Earth to Gakupo. Wake up."

Gakupo blinked and his eyes came back into focus. "Hm?"

"You sure do space out a lot." Zagi noted. Gakupo shrugged.

"I just get lost in my thoughts sometimes."

"Well, whatcha thinkin' about, space case?"

A smirk formed on his lips as he answered, meeting the other's eyes. "I'm thinking that I want another try."

"For what?"

"You gave me a negative number, didn't you? That is an embarrassment and it brings dishonor to my family. I simply must give it another shot."

Zagi frowned. "What are you talking about?"

The samurai's smile widened and he leaned down to softly press his lips against the other's, the hand in his hair tightening its grip. He could feel Zagi's heart fluttering around like a caged bird inside his chest, and Gakupo's grin caused the kiss to end. "Well?"

Zagi looked up at him, a bit dazed; he had to blink a few times to regain his voice. "Slightly better than last time." he managed to say.

"Excellent."

The assassin then recalled his temper. "Hey, whatcha try'na do, seduce me or somethin'? It isn't gonna work this time, pal, I'll tell you that."

Gakupo rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. Who in their right mind would want to seduce you?"

"Lots of people! In fact, this one time, back where I come from, there's this one guy called Yuri Lowell, right? And so since he's a total hottie, I-" He broke off and frowned. "Wait, nevermind; that's when I tried to seduce /him/..."

Gakupo's expression was unusually serious. "You had someone that was dear to you as well?"

Now it was Zagi's turn to roll his eyes. "If by 'dear to me' you mean 'wanted to have a makeout session with', then yeah. But I didn't actually have feelings for the guy. I just liked him for his looks." He frowned. "I did try to kill him, though, and he ended up killing me instead..."

Gakupo blinked. "He killed you? Then how are you here?"

Zagi looked at him as if he were slow. "Master Hand pulls people from their realms even if they /are/ dead. It just depends on how much he wants them to be here."

"Oh." Gakupo replied. "So...you're dead?"

Zagi snorted. "Not now!" He took the samurai's hand and placed it on the side of his throat, just under his chin. A slow, steady beat was felt underneath his fingertips. "I am very much alive."

A strange sort of half-smile formed on Gakupo's face. "I wish I could say the same." He took Zagi's fingers and pressed them against the same spot on his neck. Nothing could be felt except for the occasional intake of artificial breath.

Zagi frowned. "Why don't you have a heartbeat?"

Gakupo took his hand off his neck and set it down to the assassin's chest. "Because I don't have a heart." he sighed. "None of Master's creations do. Except, perhaps, Rin, but I don't even think /that's/ real-just something to make her feel more alive. Even our breathing is forced. We don't have to breathe. We just do it to feel more humanlike." Gakupo's eyes dulled as he explained this, and Zagi looked up at him, filled with curiosity.

"Does that mean you don't have blood?"

Gakupo gave him a sad smile. "Sort of. Our bodily fluid that runs through the metal veins are simply things that make us run. Usually, it's the same color of our hair. For instance-" He picked up a pen and drew it along his inner arm, causing a purple liquid to seep out of the cut. "Mine is purple."

Zagi looked at the blood in wonder. "It's kinda glowing."

"Yes, it's charged."

"You really are a robot?"

The samurai chuckled. "Robot as in the Hollywood cinematic sense, no. I am human on the outside. I have flesh, and the same bodily functions as a human. I can feel my own emotions and I have free will. The only robotic thing about me is that I have glowing blood and metal veins. I wasn't born, but built by Master's hand."

"Jeez." Zagi breathed. "That's incre-" He broke off as thunder boomed around them.

Gakupo smiled and began to run his fingers through the other's hair again. "You're like a puppy, you know. Growls and barks at everything, but hides under a blanket at a little thunder."

"Yeah, whatever, shut up."

"You really don't like me, do you?"

"I-!" Zagi opened his eyes, wide with feeling. His cheeks turned pink. "Sure I do."

"You're blushing."

"Am not!"

"Why're you embarrassed?"

Zagi averted his gaze and sat up, crawling farther away from the samurai. "I...I do like you. But...n-not in...the same way...that you like me."

Gakupo gave a small frown. "What do you mean?"

Zagi swallowed and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Like...I'm attracted to you."

Gakupo blinked. "/Attracted/ attracted?"

Zagi's face was completely red. "Erm, yeah, that's what I said, ain't it?"

Gakupo mulled over this for a moment. "Hm. I see."

The assassin sat in silence as he stared down at the bedsheets, embarrassment coming off of him in waves.

Gakupo finally spoke up. "You know, of course, that I am in love with Megurine Luka."

Zagi nodded.

"However..." He made his way over to the other, a strange warmth in his eyes. "I believe that I like you, too."

Zagi's eyes widened in surprise as he looked over at him, stuttering to say something. He quickly stood and paced over to the door. "Jeez! I gotta cool down. Um. Jeez." he opened the door and let himself out. Gakupo could hear him talking to himself as he continued down the hallway. He grinned and laid back into his bed, his mind filled with a new sort of emotion, and he contentedly drifted off to sleep.


End file.
